ErikS

I don't understand all the excitement, sounds like a normal "reef tank fix" to me...............it never seems to stop at one thing

Nah it's working out well for schools - last study I saw street sweeper's kid in Shanghi better educated than a CEO's kid in America........GO USA Annoying is to think of how many millions get wasted by the Govt - probably waste more every minute of everyday.

That would be one of my big questions, especially given what could go wrong. Also the PAR meter - that's pretty much a non-starter.

Bummer, I've had a couple pass 10 years but none make it quite that far - that's pretty old.

Okay, I'll admit it........I have "issues"........I like a clean skimmer I'll admit the only thing that really needs cleaning is the venturi - that seems to get a bit clogged every few months or so. FWIW - I did put silicone on the uniseals, helped getting them in.......not so much months later getting them out Doesn't matter, easy enough to soak the whole plate.

While I'm not Mr. Skimmer aka SteveOutlaw I have had a few of them including higher end stuff like Deltec. You'd be hard pressed to find one that produces better than the CS1. Add in a Swabie & it punches way above it's weight. The swabie keeps the production up - you'd need to clean your average skimmer every other day to maintain the production. Yes, you can fit a swabie onto other skimmers but the CS1 & the Swabie go together like peas & carrots. There's also the pump Sicce versus Hailea? I'll take Sicce thank you. The new models are pretty darn good. I have one "bone" to pick with the CS1 & that's pump removal. Disconnecting the pump from the uni-seals is a b*tch, PITA. Did that once, never again. I simply put the entire bottom plate & pump into a bucket to soak/clean = good to go (the rest of it is fairly easy to disassemble).

Thanks for the support. My plan at the moment is to keep testing for the week or so = make certain the sensor has solved the problem. Step two would be to buy another one (just the sensor) and send the old one in for an autopsy. If it's corroded that bad I would think I'd need to relocate it. It's always good to have a backup of something, I usually end up finding an alternative use The BRS pump was AC, I did open it up & it was a simple low rpm/high torque AC motor - it looked faily cheap, Italian made IIRC. Thought about replacing it for a second but the shaft was pressed on & going the puller route seemed like too much trouble.

Because near as I can tell it's way outside warranty........just trying to idenify the issue (what needs replacement). The tubing isn't longterm, just trying to figure out if it is indeed the sensor - if it is I'll just order a replacement. Then I'll open it up & see if there's any corosion...........which is where I started - I was thinking the contacts had gotten coroded (like old school points in a distributer) = I could/should clean them. Hope this didn't come across as negative - I highly reccomend this sensor, it's been the most reliable one I've ever owned.

That's my plan after I see if the sensor makes a diff - FWIW the skimmate sensor has a larger tube size...........but what reef keeper doesn't have 1.8 gillion different tube sizes around? SImple matter of finding the right sizes to make a tube within a tube.

So we don't get it mixed up I thought I'd start a new thread........ Happened again. Came home & found it making the sucking sound = low sump. 1) ATO light is on 2) ATO pump is not turning 3) no leaks This time I see the light is on & the pump is not turning. Refill the water = good to go. Unplug the ATO pump & plug it back in = it's NOT burned out. Also, when I added the make up water the ATO sensor did go out. My guess at this time is that there's an issue with the outlet (intermitent power). Test plan - skimmate locker & ATO senor are the same, no? My plan was to switch the two boxes & see if the issue pops up again (apparently it's weekly or less). If it doesn't happen again I know the sensor is bad & needs to be replaced. Good plan? Bad plan?

Thanks for the info, very cool to know what they are. Yeah, we've changed the entire planet - just check the weather (here & England). How will it all shake out? Who's to say. Can't say about the big fish, did see a couple 4' groupers in Cozumel.......but they were 1/2 tame.

I see some synergy in this merge. As pointed out AI supposedly prints their own boards (never seen "made in......" on theirs), AI's lens tech is a bit better, EcoTech is far better at the UI end of things, and both offer decent customer service. If one were to guess I'd figure they had to merge the LED business given the competition - they're still some of the pricier options around. Who knows, maybe they'll get better.

Which is why I never pay any attention to it Still a mystery, working fine for the last week.

Mysterious is right...........but then given the thought we give to systems (& their failure points) mysterious is correct. It wasn't a outlet issue, the outlet in use is the GFCI - not tripped, tight outlet = not loose. The best I can figure is that the switch at some point stayed in the open position & the pump burned out. Like the Avast model the BRS version is not designed for constant use. They'll fail if used constantly. I figure it ran until it failed & then from there the water level just kept getting lower. I'm also assuming there was some sort of leak/blockage of the ATO sensor tubing that caused it to stay both open (no power) and closed (power)..................... ........but then who knows, what we do know is all devices are subject to failure - when & where is anyone's guess. What I do know - like yours I have the original version.......but....the viewing is straight on (pretty much anyway)

Answers - a) yes, main system pump was sucking air. No leak, blockage, and top off tank had about 10 gallons remaining (of 20 total) . No beananimal (don't like it one bit) - it's an old school durso 1.5" drain w/ an 800gph (1262) pump = could block about 3/4 of it & it would still keep up. Sump is 3 chamber with final being over & down into the main return pump area = that's the area where the level will drop first. This is where the ATO sensor is located as well as where the make up water comes in. b) Yes, I heard the sound & came into the sump room. What??? Sump is down 4 - 5" in the main pump section.........I guess about 2 or 3 days? (not terribly long). Look up & the sensor light is out (no power to pump). PVC section of the sensor is WAY out of the water, maybe 5". In my rush to get a pump & get topoff into the tank I did not examine the PVC section closely. While the tank was toping off enough to save the eheim (darn they're rugged) I did plug the ATO pump into a regular outlet = no movment, just grinding a "grinding gears" sound. Once I got things squared away I started messing with the ATO sensor. Just cleaned the PVC tube, checked it over & blew into it = it works! Ordered the pump from Avast as I knew the old one was shot (see showroom above ) Posted this to check and see if my "Ron Popiel set it & forget it" approach was wrong..........maybe I should be cleaning/checking something? And yes I'm 99% certain there's no leaks.........my Dart (closed loop) is singing the song of a failing seal (not leaking) so I've checked in all the hidden spots. Could it be some sort of anomaly? Yep, I seem to be the poster child for that - check the skimmer thread in this forum, it would seem I have the only Sicce pump that demands a daily shut off. It's been working flawlessly since I put it on a once a day on/off cycle